Johan Kristoffersson secures Race 3 honours as Guerrieri reclaims points lead

Johan Kristoffersson converted pole position into a second win of the World Touring Car Cup season with victory in the final race of the weekend at Suzuka.

Having qualified at the head of the field, SLR driver Kristoffersson was beaten away from the line by Tiago Monteiro but then dived back down the inside of the Honda into turn one to reclaim the place, with Esteban Guerrieri moving up into third after a wretched opening lap for PWR Racing driver Mikel Azcona saw him struggle away from the line and plummet down to the back of the field.

Gabriele Tarquini and Kevin Ceccon, who had battled for position throughout race two, survived side-to-side contact on the run to turn one but further down the order, contact between the Audi of Ritoma Miyata and Tom Coronel’s Cupra saw the two cars go off into the gravel and brought out the safety car.

As the two cars were recovered, Kristoffersson led the field behind the safety car from Honda drivers Monteiro and Guerrieri, with Thed Björk, Andy Priaulx and Tarquini rounding out the top six.

Points leader Norbert Michelisz found himself in ninth, with Lynk & Co Cyan Racing’s Yvan Muller down outside the points in 17th after his qualifying disappointment.

The action resumed on lap eight with Kristoffersson retaining the lead from Monteiro, with the only change in the top ten seeing Jean-Karl Vernay move ahead of Attila Tassi into tenth spot.

Dipping below the 54s marker allowed Kristoffersson to build a lead of more than a second over KCMG driver Monteiro, with the team telling the Swede on the radio to manage his tyres over the extended 30 lap race.

The race quickly settled down and as lap times started to drop away, it was Ceccon’s Alfa Romeo in eighth that became the car to watch, with the Italian showing stronger pace than the cars around him.

With a frustrated Muller stuck behind Nestor Girolami’s Honda and outside the points, a five second penalty for Attila Tassi – who was running eleventh – provided an opportunity for the Frenchman to possibly score.

Ceccon’s charge saw him move ahead of Huff at turn two on lap 21 – albeit thanks to a small tap on the rear of the Volkswagen – with the Alfa man then passing Tarquini going into a turn one a lap late to move sixth.

Priaulx was the next man to lose out to the Italian as he moved into fifth, and BRC Racing driver Tarquini would also get ahead of the Lynk & Co driver a couple of laps later.

Out front, Kristoffersson was comfortable at the front of the pack as Guerreri moved ahead of Monteiro into second to secure more vital championship points, with Ceccon’s charge seeing him move ahead of Björk into fourth.

An off for Ryuichiro Tomita resulted in the race ending behind the safety car, cementing Kristoffersson’s position in P1 ahead of Guerrieri, who moved back into the lead of the championship thanks to second place.

There was drama behind however, as Monteiro appeared to head for the pits coming out of the final corner before realising that he needed to cross the finishing line – by which stage Ceccon had already moved ahead to take third place.

Monteiro instead had to settle for fourth ahead of Björk, with the top ten completed by Tarquini, Priaulx, Huff, Michelisz and Vernay.

The late safety car period ensured that Muller was able to score a point for 15th place, with Tassi’s five second penalty dropping him outside the points.

Next up for the World Touring Car Cup is the annual trip to Macau on the weekend of 14-17 November.